Trump Nominee for OPM Chief Withdraws Amid Criticism from Unions

Labor News

Reprinted from The San Francisco Chronicle by Joe Davidson on August 2, 2017.

President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has withdrawn from consideration.

In a letter to the president, George Nesterczuk said, “The prospect of my favorable confirmation has grown remote. Recent partisan attacks threaten to delay further the consideration of my nomination . . .. While the allegations against me are baseless and false, in the current climate when even non-controversial nominees endure extensive delays in the Senate, I do not wish to be a distraction for the Administration while I defend my integrity.”

Nesterczuk, whose letter was earlier reported by GovExec, a news service for the federal workforce, had been sharply criticized by unions representing government employees. A July 26 letter from 16 labor organizations said Nesterczuk’s previous record as a Republican-appointed OPM official “has been a failure, while his overall stated views toward the federal workforce are dramatically opposite to the mission and task of OPM.”

The unions were particularly troubled by his involvement in the Defense Department’s National Security Personnel System (NSPS), which was repealed by Congress in 2009. The unions’ letter said the NSPS “turned out to be a discriminatory personnel system created out of extreme ideological disdain for the due process worker protections … that define our modern day civil service.” …